Ready For More
by anchorsandboots
Summary: Elizabeth and Henry are madly in love. The timing is right, and they are ready for more. A story of how Henry proposed.


Author's note: Hi! This is my first attempt at a real Madam Secretary story (i.e., not just smut). I've wanted to write about Elizabeth and Henry's past for a while now, but have been facing writer's block ever since I finished "Christmas Morning" :(. Anyway, I really hope you like this one. Please leave me a review — I appreciate hearing what you thought and how I can improve! Thanks for reading!

*I couldn't help but include a few inside jokes with how long they've been together and the words they play. Can you find all of them and figure them out? :)

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"Hey, so I was thinking..." Elizabeth trailed off, distracted by the way her boyfriend had his eyes glued to her. "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

Henry chuckled and took her hands in his. "Nothing, babe. You just look especially radiant tonight."

She looked down at herself. She was clad in grey sweatpants and one of Henry's t-shirts. "If you say so." She leaned in to kiss him for always giving her the sweetest compliments.

After the kiss broke, Henry replied, "I would never lie to you about how gorgeous you are, Elizabeth." He waited for a few moments, then turned back to face her again. "So, you were saying you had something on your mind?"

"Oh, right." She shifted slightly. They were seated next to each other on the sofa in Henry's apartment, partly watching a movie. "So, we've been together for, gosh, three years already? Is that right?" When they spent time together, she felt as if she'd known Henry for her entire life.

"Three years, ten months, and twelve days." He returned her smile and motioned for her to continue speaking.

"Right, so we've been together for almost four years now. And, I can honestly say to you Henry, that I've loved every minute of it." She laced their fingers together as she spoke. "I love you so much. You have my heart, Henry." She began to choke up, tears threatening to fall from her turquoise eyes.

"Hey, babe," Henry comforted, letting her know he was listening and would always be there for her. He was well aware that her heart was his. It was something he did not take lightly at all.

She wiped her eyes and took in a couple deep breaths. "Sorry. Anyway, I've been thinking a lot lately, and I don't know, maybe it's too soon or something, but, I just..." Elizabeth couldn't seem to get a complete thought out tonight.

"I've actually been thinking a lot lately, too." Henry wasn't surprised that their minds had been roaming the same path. They were so right for each other that they often had the exact same thoughts as one another.

"Yeah?" Elizabeth let Henry hold her in his arms.

"Yes. I love you, Elizabeth. And I think we may be ready for more than just hanging out and going on dates."

"Well, I mean, sometimes we do more than just 'hang out'," Elizabeth flirted, lowering her hand to rest on Henry's hip.

"Yes, that's true," he agreed playfully. "But I think you know what I mean about being ready for more."

"I do know, Henry, yes," she complied in a more serious tone. "I would love to wake up to you every morning, have a family with you, and be with you until I die."

"I would love that, too, Elizabeth."

 _About three weeks later..._

Elizabeth and Henry were again seated in his apartment, enjoying a casual night in. Elizabeth rested on the sofa, with Henry settled on the carpet, facing her. The Scrabble board lay unfolded on the coffee table between them.

"Ladies first." Henry gestured for Elizabeth to play her first word.

She picked up six of her tiles and arranged them in a row beginning on the center square of the board.

"Hmm. 'Noodle'," Henry read, reviewing his own letters.

"Yeah. I think all the takeout we've been feeding ourselves is affecting my ability to play more sophisticated words," she giggled.

"Maybe," Henry played along, putting down his own tiles. He used the 'L' from 'noodle' to spell out 'love'.

"Aww, that's sweet." Elizabeth smiled and looked through her options. She shuffled a few tiles around and settled for 'apron', utilizing the 'N' from 'noodle'.

"Very nice, babe." Henry picked up all but one of his letters and used the 'A' Elizabeth had put down to spell 'ladder'.

"Hmm." She glanced up at Henry, then back at her tiles. She wanted to get rid of the 'X' she'd gotten on her first draw, so she arranged her letters to form 'sexy', branching off of the 'E' in 'ladder'.

"Are we describing ourselves now?" Henry flirted, giving Elizabeth a wink. She grinned and shrugged, playing it off as if it were nothing. They continued trying to one-up each other's words until there were only a couple of tiles left unused, and the board was almost full.

"Is it just me, or are we missing some letters?" Elizabeth asked, struggling to come up with a word that used 'Z' and 'U'.

Henry took a look at the bag of tiles they'd been drawing from. "Looks about right to me."

"Well, I'm stuck," Elizabeth announced, frustrated, "you got anything?"

"I think I may have something." Henry began to slide a portion of the letters off of the board, disassembling the crossword they'd created.

"Henry, that's cheating," Elizabeth whined.

He silently continued clearing a corner of the board, then produced a handful of tiles he had been hiding under the table. Elizabeth watched, completely confused as to what he was thought he was doing. He began to spell 'Elizabeth' vertically, then added 'will' horizontally, using the 'I' in her name. Next came 'marry', connected by the 'A' in her name, and 'me', branching off of the second 'E'.

"There's supposed to be a 'U' somewhere," Henry looked around, a bit flustered.

"I can help." Elizabeth took the 'U' from her tile rack and set it after 'will'. Her eyes glistened, and she was smiling in surprise. Henry was such a romantic.

"I love you, Elizabeth." He walked over to kneel in front of her, taking her hands in his. "You're my everything, and I want to spend the rest of my life loving you." He reached into his pocket and brought out the most beautiful diamond ring Elizabeth had ever laid her eyes on. "Will you marry me?"

"Oh, Henry," she squeezed his hand and leaned in to kiss him, "yes, of course."

Their lips met in a perfect kiss. Henry slid the ring onto Elizabeth's finger, then gently wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"I love you," they whispered simultaneously, then shared a laugh. They spent the night cuddled on the sofa, hoping the moment would never end.


End file.
